Overboard

Nothing like a little adrenaline to beat the stress of house hunting!  Sunday afternoon I found myself attached to a very basic piece of rope, hanging off this cliff 20 meters in the air. 

When Mark suggested we go absailing I scoffed a little.  Rock climbing would at least be challenging, but what's the thrill in dropping down a cliff? 

Now I know better.  The thrill is getting to the very edge of a cliff, hanging on with just the tips of your toes.  You stand there, sweating, trying to convince yourself to take the first step off the cliff while every fiber of your body is telling you to get the hell to the other side of the barrier now.  It doesn't matter that all your body weight is already on the rope, and you'd be just as dead if it snapped now.  It doesn't matter that you've just seen people go down the cliffs safely, or that the rope is approved to hold three tons.  On a primitive level your body physically responds to being in danger, and there's nothing that your 21st-century logic can do to convince it otherwise. 

Until you step.

I was sweating, shaking, and holding back tears on the edge of that cliff, all while knowing I was perfectly safe.  It took three tries of getting hooked in and getting to the edge of the cliff before I finally took that last step.  

When I did, the ride down was fun, but anticlimatic after the drama at the top.  The most amazing part  seeing how strong our instincts are, and how little that has to do with any logic.  Although, one could  argue that hurling yourself down a cliff isn't exactly a logical thing to do...